Imagination Technologies, a leading multimedia technologies company, has achieved Dolby MS11 certification for its Meta processors. Meta processors are widely deployed in digital audio products including docks, radios and connected audio systems. With MS11 certification Meta can decode an extensive range of multistream audio standards using a single thread of the Meta processor.According to Dolby the MS11 Multistream Decoder provides television and set-top box manufacturers with a single-package technology solution for decoding all premium audio formats, including Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital, HE AAC with Dolby metadata, and all HE AAC/AAC bitstreams. It ensures optimal compatibility with the worldwide installed base of home theatre systems and with future broadcast audio standards.The Meta family of embedded processors use hardware multi-threading to combine both general purpose 'Apps' and DSP capabilities in one processor. Using true hardware multi-threading and efficient DSP architecture Meta processors have exceptional tolerance to SoC system latencies while also delivering complex DSP and mathematical capabilities and levels of real-time response that make them ideal for audio SoC applications.Broadcasters are implementing various formats to meet new TV audio standards worldwide. With Dolby MS11 on Meta manufacturers can ensure that their TV or set-top box products are ready for all present and forthcoming audio requirements by delivering a cost-effective solution, compatible with a comprehensive array of audio formats and standards.The addition of Dolby MS11 support on Meta processors further extends Imagination's comprehensive portfolio of IP for HD TV which includes: Ensigma multistandard 'world' broadcast demodulation and 'SmartTV' connectivity; PowerVR graphics for advanced gaming, apps and user interface; PowerVR multistandard, multistream video decode and encode up to 4Kx2K; Meta multistream audio and apps processors; and HelloSoft V.VoIP 'video-chat' technologies.Dolby MS11 is now available for use by all Meta licensees, subject to appropriate license from Dolby.Information in this release on MS11 features is provided by Dolby. See also: http://www.dolby.com/gb/en/professional/technology/broadcast/dolby-ms11.html

Brett Gaines, Director of Marketing and Business Development, Touch Materials of Atmel Corporation, said since Apple Inc lauched iPhones and iPads several years ago, smartphones and tablets have been widely accepted by consumers due to their intuitive and interesting way of operation. Touch screens also become an indispensable component of most consumer electronics devices.Currently, nearly 100% of new smartphones and tablets from various vendors are equipped with touch screens instead of traditional I/O. The emergence of application software and operating systems supporting touch screens is also accelerating growth of the touch screen panel market. For example, the upcoming new Microsoft OS is likely to follow strategies in the past and expand its touch screen technology to wider applications such as ultrabooks, convertible PCs and all-in-one (AIO) PCs.Various software/hardware demand from consumers triggers growth in global touch screen marketAccording to statistics from ITRI's IEK, touch screens will achieve a 100% penetration in the AIO market in 2012. AIO PCs adopt touch screens due to considerations of better exterior, thinness, lower cost and multi-media capability. Just as NPD DisplaySearch said in its latest Touch Panel Market Analysis report, this is also the result of the fact that Microsoft has the Metro interface for touch screen functions in Windows 8 and enables consumers to sustain the same user experience with different end devices. This will lead to a revolution in touch screen panel design for tablets and notebooks, and the total output of relevant modules is also expected to double from US$2.9 billion in 2011 to US$5.7 billion in 2015.Due to the ever-increasing penetration of touch screens, vendors have to seek differentiation through other channels in order to stand out amid fierce competition. Comparing several popular models of consumer digital products in the market, we can find that in addition to the convenience, practicality and fun brought by touch screen functions, appealing exterior with chic design is of even greater importance.Many market research reports indicate that while consumers used to focus on products' functions, quality and practicality, these key considerations have been replaced by exterior design and aesthetics as technology matures. In order to cater to various demand on product exterior and operations, vendors now have more brand-new ideas and concepts about the characteristics of touch screens, said Gaines.Chic exterior and smooth user experience are key to competitivenessFor example, Gaines believes touch screens will evolve toward sleek, edgeless forms in larger sizes for minimalistic exterior that can provide users visual effects on larger screens without interruption from screen frames (especially for glaze frames.) Better noise immunity is also a requirement as touch control sensors are more susceptible to electromagnetic interference from display at the bottom and cannot detect the signals due to thinness of the screen.Indispensable features for new generation of touch screens include: lower power consumption of touch screen controllers that will offer mobile devices longer battery life after recharging; faster, more precise touch control capability for more complex multi-touch features while remaining smoothness of operation; and strong/flexible material that can bent according to exterior and enables versatile design of consumer electronics products.However, as traditional touch screen panel technology may cause embrittlement, it's impossible to meet all the requirements for the new generation of products. In view of this, Atmel introduced a film-based, highly flexible touch control sensor, Atmel XSense Touch Sensors.Gaines said the product features new characteristics by using highly flexible material, stack-up of ultra-thin sensors and wider screens. It delivers better performance with narrower borders, narrower bond area, lower sheet resistance, better and more precise touch recognition, and stronger touch pen functions. Existing supply chains are available to supper higher production of sensors so overall system costs can be reduced. The new product will help vendors accelerate development in the new generation of smartphones and tablets, and expand touch control to other new industrial products and consumer electronics products.Multiple edges of Atmel XSense touch sensors will help vendors explore new frontiers in product designTaking product design as an example, new models of consumer electronics products will eventually face the following problems amid emergence of sleek, edgeless design: How can the glass surface be fully utilized? How can the mechanical parts of devices be reduced or eliminated? How can we achieve the most edgy product exterior in the industry?Gaines said in order to meet various needs for the exterior of new products, XSense Touch Sensors can be mounted on curved surfaces and wrapped around the display, or even integrated with capacitive controls on the side of the display as part of the sensor. XSense Touch Sensors, whose thickness is less than one third of traditional sensors and the bond area is less than two thirds of those, offers consumers better touch control experience while improving device reliability and reducing total system cost.Using its patent roll-to-roll metal mesh technology, Atmel makes rolls of XSense Touch Sensors through circuitization in various processes such as sensor layout and sensor mask, and then delivers the rolls to downstream touch screen makers, who will use the materials, together with flexible print circuit (FPC) and cover lens from other vendors, in lamination and bond before assembling the sensor modules with Atmel's touch controllers."This kind of manufacturing technology and stock-up production process can not only enable characteristics of wide screens, narrow bezel, versatile exterior, narrow bond, better noise immunity and lower power consumption for products adopting XSense Touch Sensors, production of sensors will also be accelerated with larger output, which eventually will help reduce products' manufacturing costs."Atmel has long been committed to innovation as its business philosophyAtmel Corporation is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, touch sensor capacitive IC, ASIC, non-volatile memory, radio frequency components, etc. Major products include EEPROM, EPROM, flash, PLD, microcontroller, FPGA, AVR, USB, ASIC, WLAN, VOIP, DSC, RF, BT, smart card and security products. With US$18 billion global revenue a year, the company owns offices in 27 countries with a total of 5,100 employees around the world.With its long-time commitment to innovation, Atmel will continue to help vendors develop excellent products with more functions, smaller sizes, higher intelligence and greater cost efficiency by providing clients with excellent development tools and best technology solutions, so they can gain advantage and leadership in the highly competitive market.Brett Gaines, Director of Marketing and Business Development, Touch Materials at Atmel

Rich Cerruto, Vice President of Coverity Inc Asia Pacific Operation, said software bugs may cause major consequences. Related media reports in recent years include: software error messages to infusion pumps at a company caused 560 deaths; Bombardier's share price plummeted after software flaw caused new product delay; 560 million Skype users were impacted by an outage caused by software problems; and similar problems also led to over US$100 million loss for JPMorgan.Moreover, according to a survey conducted by Forrester in May 2011, 49% of the interviewed said software defects are the major cause for shipment delay and recalls; 46% said software defects will reduce customer satisfaction; 38% said this will result in security holes; 36% emphasized that this will hurt corporate reputation. "As software has become a source of corporate competitiveness and is closely correlated to business operation, any software defects may lead to corporate crisis instantly," Cerruto elaborated on the importance of detecting and fixing software defects.Debugging is actually quite difficult due to complex software supply chainsHowever, architectures and sources of software applications are rather complex now. For example, a smartphone often involves applications from various enterprises, which may include consumer application platforms (such as Google, App Store, Open Source, Java, etc), device manufacturers (Ericsson, RIM, HP, Motorola, Samsung), operating system providers (Android, Symbian, Linux, Windows, Chrome OS), device drivers developers (Nvidia, AMD) and chip/microprocessor vendors (Intel, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Infineon, Marvell).A complex software supply chain would only increase chances for software defects, added Cerruto. Due to vague accountability, it's hard to track back and submit evidence once a problem occurs and everybody is passing the buck. The most common response would be, "I'm happy to fix it if it's my codes." The problem gets worse as it's hard to maintain same software quality among various upstream suppliers who are not subject to consistent standards of management and control.Cerruto believes there are several reasons behind poor software quality and the subsequent security problems: most enterprises have long lacked the ability to define and enforce management policies on code quality and safety; code development teams fail to adopt suitable measures against possible quality/safety crisis after codes are distributed into software supply chains; OEM makers are unable to see where security/quality crisis lies in each component unit from an all-dimension perspective of software supply chains; and software security examination is independent of standard development process and decoupled from the work of developers.The following situation is quite common: testing often starts late in the development cycle so once defects or safety problems are found, it often takes a lot of time to readjust/revise the software and the costs will increase, said Cerruto.Using static testing with Coverity's automatic defect detection tools is the best wayThe solution is to test and fix codes as early as possible in each stage of software development. A 2002 survey by NIST showed that when testing was held late in the integration and system testing stage, it would take 10 times as much time and cost as in the requirements and design stage. However, Cerruto added, vendors should not test in an aimless manner when they decide to go on with the testing.It is better to use static testing together with Coverity's automatic defect detection tools, Cerruto stressed. As traditional testing methods cannot offer path coverage, many defects are inevitably neglected. However, static testing can test all paths without executing the codes, which means developers can locate defects in a more comprehensive and systematical way. Even codes in rarely executed paths can be tested.In addition to lowering cost and reducing uncertainty about development schedules caused by unexpected defects, security-wise it is safer for products as hackers won't find any channels to invade and steal information, he said.Cerruto continued that static testing with Coverity automatic defect detection tools consists of three stages: the first is to build as development tools will collect information on how codes are compiled and will build a virtual environment in order to understand the company's standard building process. Usage of compilers will also be transparentized. It will help to have a grip on all original files and parameters related to compilation such as definitions of macro and command line options.Based on this, developers can test and analyze each path passing the codes via blocks known as "checkers." Checkers will try to discover each actual defect in the codes, such as computer crashes, memory corruption, memory leak and any other problems that can cause serious errors. It is not just checking if the code format is correct.Real code defects can be found with low chances of system missIn the last stage, testing results, including the location and root causes of the defects, are presented and explained before being saved in databanks so that developers within the enterprises can manage and share triage of the defects across the teams. This will boost enterprises' efficiency in the process of fixing defects.For example, some companies have the so-called "Coverity Fix Day" each week during which all developers will leave all their daily work behind and focus on the analysis, discussion and removal of defects. Some defects are the most critical and placed first to be fixed. Old defects are put on the to-do list for later fixing.With the help of Coverity automatic defect detection tools, all types of defects, in C/C++ or Java/C��, can be found quickly, including resource leaks, null pointer dereferences, concurrency issues, integer handling issues, improper use of APIs, control flow issues, memory-corruptions, memory-illegal access and security best practices violations.Automatic defect detection tools often miss when testing code defects. It can be a waste of time for developers and deter people's interest in learning tools. In a more serious scenario, it can hurt enterprises' credibility on tool analysis and prevent the tools from delivering its inherent performance.Coverity has always been devoted to eliminating mis-detection, said Cerruto. Compared to tools from competitors, Coverity tools offer precise and fast analysis results with an error rate below 10-15%. Moreover, defects found are often serious ones that can cause code problems, not just superficial problems such as conflicting formats. It will not only prompt developers to master the tools as soon as possible and also save their time from being wasted in vain.Even when they are analyzing massive codes, Coverity automatic defect detection tools can achieve balance in terms of broadness, depth and scalability. In view of that, leading brands such as LG, Synopsys, RSA, L3 communications, Honeywell, NEC, Medtronic, Juniper, BMC Software, Samsung, SEGA and Sony have become Coverity's partners and users.Rich Cerruto, Vice President of Asia Pacific Operations, Coverity

According to an IDC survey, 645 million smartphones, 225 million notebooks and 105 million tablets are expected to be shipped in 2012 and, from 2012 to 2015, the compound annual growth rates (CAGR) of smartphones, notebooks and tablets are expected to be 17%, 13% and 20%, reflecting a strong demand for such consumer electronics.According to Eric Wang, Global Strategic Marketing Manager, TE Connectivity, increasingly prevalent cloud services over the past few years have changed the scenarios of how consumer electronics are used. Now massive data can be accessed and used online anytime to provide briefings to customers, share photos with friends, enjoy MP3 music outdoors, and use smartphones to complete transactions. Because data need not be stored on devices in advance, people are more willing to use various consumer electronic devices to enjoy their convenience.Critical influence of connectivityAs each consumer electronic device used to have only one function, users had to carry many different devices with them when they were on the go. They carried cell phones, digital cameras, MP3 players, handheld game consoles, GPS, and/or notebooks in order to meet different needs and wants.Technology advances have helped integrate many functions onto a single device. Camera, game playing, and music downloading/playing functions built in on smartphones, tablets or ultrabook are increasingly common, according to Wang, and this indicates the product design orientation of consumer electronics has been shifting to platform design orientation, and how to help systems and the data on devices integrate and work smoothly on iOS, Android, Windows CE, and Symbian is a focus of attention among device manufacturers.Moreover, multiple function devices have been increasing data traffic. According to the Cisco VNI 2010 report, the CAGR of mobile data from 2009 to 2014 would be as high as 34% and, by 2014, near 70 exabytes of data would increase monthly around the world. Consumer electronics would generate 87% of such data while business activities only 13%.To address the situation, it is necessary to increase devices' speed of internal and external data transmission, while the specs of existing data transmission interfaces such as USB, HDMI, Display Port, Ethernet, SATA, PCIe, Thunderbolot are being rapidly upgraded to prevent bottlenecking devices. Wang stressed that connectivity is critical to the efficiency of various consumer electronic devices.Many special connector designs as a must for new generation slim devicesAt the same time, new generation consumer electronics becoming increasingly slimmer is an obvious trend, which can be observed from the desktops in the 1970s, ensuing old-fashion notebooks, cell phones, modern notebooks, and smartphones, tablets, and ultrabook debuting in the 21st century. Nowadays a device can be as thin as 1 inch or even 0.5 inch.According to Wang, given the very limited internal space of increasingly slimmer devices, installing various components and parts for heat ventilation, power supply, storage, touch control, as well as PCB while integrating camera, game, GPS, and music functions can be resolved by improved connectivity between components and parts in addition to redesign, changing component shapes (e.g., replacement of cylinder batteries with square ones), and using new components and parts that are smaller but more powerful (e.g., replacement of conventional hard disks with SSD).In sum, the connectors for slim devices should not only provide a high speed of transmission but also have a high pin count and fine pitch in order to meet the requirements for both thinness and execution efficacy of new generation consumer electronics.Therefore, TE Connectivity - the world's largest manufacturer of passive electronic components as well as a world leader of network solutions, undersea communications systems and other specialty products - has launched its Ultra Low Profile SODIMM, Ultra Low Profile NGFF, USB RJ45 Hybird, and Fine Pitch Dock, which can sharply decrease the connector height in consumer electronics by 30%. According to Wang, these new products can enhance data transmission efficiency in addition to enabling even thinner devices and design flexibility.Component height reduced by TE Connectivity with transmission speed remaining unchangedUltra Low Profile SODIMM Connector, for example, features a 0.6 mm pitch, 204pos, and thickness lower than 3.0 mm to support single-sided memory chips, provide both versions of STD and RVS, and enable bevel insertion as well as an ultra low profile. Compared to the existing 4.0 mm connectors, Ultra Low Profile SODIMM Connector reduces its thickness by at least 25%, making devices 5-10% thinner. It is very suitable for the motherboard sizes of the latest ultrabooks, notebooks, all-in-one PCs and tablets.Ultra Low Profile Docking Connector - because of its 0.5/0.6 mm pitch design and multiple applications - provides 30-80 anchorages and complies with HDMI, USB, and DisplayPort protocols. It saves PCB space by more than 30% and decreases connector thickness by 25% to enable increasingly thinner devices. It is suitable for not only ultrabook and tablets but also for various handhelds.As to USB and RJ45, the standards commonly used for external transmission, TE Connectivity provides its USB/RJ45 Hybrid Connector support. The product has 17 pins, with four of them supporting USB 2.0, five supporting USB 3.0, and the other eight supporting RJ45. Therefore, single-port support to MagJack RJ45, USB 2.0, and USB 3.0 can be simultaneously provided while the speed can be maintained at higher than 1G/bps. The speed is not compromised because of the multiple specification support.Moreover, port height is reduced by 30% to make devices 15-20% thinner to provide even more compact and lighter computers. TE Connectivity also plans to help develop thinner DC jacks, HDMI, DisplayPort, CPU sockets, flexible printed circuits, and board-to-board connectors.Manufacturers' preference for TE Connectivity, which exceeds consumer expectationsTE Connectivity is a world-leading supplier of connectors, fiber optics, precision wires and cables, antennas, as well as sealing and protecting and circuit protection solutions. The company now helps the world's top-10 manufacturers of consumer electronic devices develop many new functions for their next-generation products to make such products work even better and faster.According to Wang, TE Connectivity can lead the markets of game consoles, PCs, smartphones, and tablets by providing the advanced technologies that change consumer expectations. The company's well-designed and crafted connectors help develop even more compact and lighter products for the mobile device market.According to Wang, a wide variety of point-to-point connectivity solutions provided by TE Connectivity often exceeds customer expectations and provides pleasant surprises to consumers. As a result, many companies have decided to partner with TE Connectivity, because TE Connectivity solutions provide multiple options and customization services to meet the needs of designing diverse light and slim devices.Eric Wang, Global Strategic Marketing Manager, TE Connectivity

According to a Canalys report in 2012, 488 million smartmobile devices were shipped in 2011 with 48.8% of them running Android and 19.1% iOS.From the fourth quarter of 2010 through the fourth quarter of 2011, the global growth rate of smart mobile devices was 62.7%. The growth of Android devices was 244.1%, the highest, followed by 183.1% of Bada and 96.0% of iOS.According to Microchip, it is ABI Research's view that the explosive shipment growth of smart mobile devices boosted the 2010 global revenue of aftermarket peripherals to US$26.5 billion. According to a Microchip forecast, the market of Apple accessories and peripherals amounts to about US$10 billion with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15%.Lifestyles to be changed by various smart mobile devicesAccording to Chuck Li, Regional Sales Manager of Microchip, various daily applications for businesses, homes, hospitals, and vehicles have a close tie with smart mobile devices, which enable daily office work, entertainment, financial transactions, location-based services, remote control and remote home care. There is no doubt that the smart functions associated with such applications will have a strong influence over the direction and growth of the global market of peripherals.Li stressed that ongoing launches of smart mobile applications are new opportunities for peripheral manufacturers to create their products that strengthen the existing mobile devices. These products, for example, include home care systems combining monitoring and sensing functions, ticket devices that provide certification and payment functions, exercise or medical equipment, and payment tools. "Smartphones and mobile peripherals have become a 'lifestyle hub' that helps us interact with the world in a way unimaginable in the past," said Li.Various key functions built in on smart peripherals have close interaction with mobile applications and can create very unique user experiences. "Different applications, however, require different key functions provided by smart peripherals," said Li.Devices with e-wallet or POS applications must have encrypted computing and password protection built in for both data and hardware security. As to the peripheral for exercise equipment, motion sensing and advanced analogue functionality are required for accurate movement measurement. Speaker peripherals should support multiple audio compression formats and audio effects while amplification is also indispensable."Correct identification of the key functions that smart peripherals should have enables a good understanding of hardware specs and helps design optimized microcontrollers as well as other system parts and components," said Li.Rapid growth of mobile devices primarily driven by applications and peripheralsBased on the aforementioned, smart peripherals have become one of the key factors to attract consumers but pose many challenges to manufacturers, which have to factor in complicated product diversity issues during product design. Therefore, the high quality of product design as well as the best user experience can only be ensured by hardware and software integration of key functions, network and peripheral connectivity, power efficiency, firmware libraries, operating system support, and various applications.In terms of network or peripheral connectivity, as external communication of smart devices relies on interfaces, how many interface specs can be supported by peripherals is the most important consideration during product design. "Either wireline interfaces or wireless interfaces have their pros and cons," said Li. "Therefore, product design had better decide the interface specs to be supported based on the habits of target users, how complicated design is, power consumption, bills of materials (BOM), etc."Challenges and complicated considerations despite design options and specsUSB interfaces, for example, can be found on iPad. Android tablets, iPod, Android phones, and various mobile devices for their connectivity with massive storage devices, CDC devices, human interface devices, audio devices, etc."The latest USB 3.0 supports a data rate up to 5Gbit/s, but most smartphones and tablets retain the old USB 2.0 because of higher costs of the USB 3.0 chip per se, peripherals, and the circuit board to go with USB 3.0," said Li. "As a result, some new devices have compatibility issues." Moreover, the master/slave architecture of USB in the past only enabled the master to set up schedule connection and transmit data while peripherals could only passively respond to the master. "This has been improved by new generation peripherals' USB OTG support, but many old devices still support the old operation mode," said Li when reminding manufacturers to pay attention to the issue during new product design.Regarding the RF design for devices, there are two options: the module and chip-down. Module accelerates time to market, and design can be completed with only some knowledge of RF, according to Li, but additional certifications are required and cost effectiveness can only be achieved when output is not high. "Chip-down, on the contrary, requires RF professionals' participation as well as many RF tests and certifications, but mass production can reduce the cost to the lowest."Power sources for peripherals have a similar issue. Cell phones and tablets can use A/C chargers and do without batteries, but extra design is required in order to convert A/C into D/C. The extra design cost can be saved by using batteries to do without any extra space for circuits, but maintaining battery voltage stability can be difficult.Annoying development simplified by Microchip Development KitShould firmware library support to different operating systems be considered? Can the latest operating system specs be met? Is automated detection and network connection possible? Are simple APIs and automated initialization available? Can firmware libraries be updated?According to Li, seeing that peripheral manufacturers have many complicated considerations during new products design, Microchip has integrated various needs of field application engineers and design houses around the world to provide rich XLP PIC MCU supporting many Android and iOS development kits. Therefore, the fastest time to market of general-purpose peripherals, digital audio speakers, as well as MIDI synthesizing, sound mixing, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices will be possible.Microchip Firmware Libraries is royalty free while supporting the latest Android and iOS by providing automated detection, network connection, and initialization as well as boot-loading and digital audio support. As a result, manufacturers are free from many inconveniences that they would otherwise have to resolve by themselves.Various Microchip Development Kits provide flexible product development options, e.g., Simple Accessory with IR or 8-bit Development Kits for simple peripheral development, and MIDI Accessory, MIDI Synthesize, and PIC32 Sound Mixing for sound mixing product design.It is Li's recommendation that peripheral manufacturers' new product R&D should follow "the most appropriate OS development licensing," such as Apple's MFi, and then select suitable MPLAB X IDE/XC Compilers, OS Libraries, PICkit, MPLAB ICD, or MPLAB REAL ICE debugger/programmer based on different OS and MCU requirements in order to gain complete support.For further understanding of the resources of smartphone peripheral development provided by Microchip, please visit http://www.microchip.com/smartphonesChuck Li, Regional Sales Manager, Microchip Technology

In 2007, Corning launched Gorilla Glass, a tough glass product that is ideal for touch screens and many other applications. Because of Corning's proprietary fusion manufacturing process with automated robot arms precisely drawing glass in a clean room environment along with a chemical tempering procedure, Gorilla Glass has a very clean and even surface of excellent quality, and there are different product sizes to flexibly meet the specifications of LCD TVs and monitors. Since its launch, as many as 33 world-renowned brands and 750 types of devices have adopted Gorilla Glass, and Gorilla Glass can also be found in more than 750 million products in the market.Strengthened hardness and damage resistance of Gorilla Glass 2According to James Hollis, Worldwide Sales & Applications Engineering, Corning Glass Technologies, the features of Gorilla Glass have changed the traditional perception of glass, and Gorilla Glass has been widely applied to the coolest smartphones, tablets, PCs, TV, and other consumer devices to enable scratch resistance in daily normal use.As the interaction between consumers and various smart devices is becoming increasingly frequent anytime and anywhere, the thinness, lightweight, ligh transmission, durability, as well damage/scratch resistance of new generation glass products must be improved in order to meet the requirements of various applications, such as optic fiber lighting, automobile glass, architectural display glass, electrochromic glass, all-weather surface glass, antimicrobial glass, optimized components for 3D glass, transmissive display glass, for living rooms, bedrooms, classrooms, vehicles, hospitals, and open space.In order to let glass materials more easily blend into the future applications, Corning has recently launched Gorilla Glass 2, which is as outstanding as its predecessor in optic performance, scratch resistance, and cost efficiency, while completely compatible with the existing parts manufacturing processes. But it features significant form factor and damage resistance improvements.According to Hollis, with all other things being the same, the load-to-failure of Gorilla Glass 2 after abrasion is at least 25% higher than Gorilla Glass. In other words, with the same damage resistance, Gorilla Glass 2 is 10-20% thinner than its predecessor. For example, at a failure load of 170kgf, Gorilla Glass 2 can be 2mm thinner than Gorilla Glass, while 10-15% of the strengthening time during production is saved.Lighter and slimmer smart devices enabled by OGSIn order to meet the needs in manufacturing large full-touch screens, Corning has a one-glass solution (OGS) combining the touch sensor and cover glass into one, allowing the ITO to be patterned directly on the underside of large-size cover glass. Such single-sheet glass is both a strong and safe cover glass and a touch sensor.For projective capacitive touch, according to Hollis, the conventional discrete touch module needs an extra ayer of glass with both sides pattenred with ITO. But now the OGS integrates the touch sensor and cover class into one to do without the thickness of an extra sheet of glass. This not only reduces weight but also simplifies the materials and manufacturing process to decrease panel thickness. It enhances light transmission, and the production process is streamlined.Because of different sequences of sensor processing as well as glass cutting and strengthening, there are two different touch panel making processes: full sheet and discrete sheet processes. According to Hollis, the discrete sheet OGS will directly hand over Gorilla Glass 2 to glass finishers for cutting, as well as the machine and ion exchange processes. Then it is handled by touch panel makers for deposition, patterning and registration. The last step of assembly is completed by ODM companies.The full sheet OGS first will see Corning make the IOX-FS glass substrate from Gorilla Glass 2, and then deposition, patterning and registration are done at touch panel makers. After the cutting and machine processing, assembly is lastly completed by ODM companies. Whether the cutting takes place before or after IXO, the Corning glass still supports OGS.OGS issues improved by IOX-FSBefore the Corning IOX-FS substrate was available, OSG could save costs and enhance capacity utilization, but device durability was weakened considerably by fragile edges of glass panels because the substrate was cut after strengthening. The cutting incurred stress and made edges fragile.The OGS-based IOX-FS glass performs much better than soda lime glass in terms of surface damage resistance, critical stress, edge strength, and light transmission. For example, the surface damage resistance and critical stress of IOX-FS are respectively 5-7 times and more than seven times soda lime glass, enabling a smaller form factor, design flexibility, enhanced durability, better scratch resistance, high-definition, higher display brightness, lightweight, and richer colors on displays. Material and production issues are improved, too.The toughness of Gorilla Glass allows thinner glass to be put on various devices and more importantly the devices' lighter weight makes it easier for transportation and therefore reduces transportation costs. Soda lime glass needs to be 5mm thick to achieve the same toughness of Gorilla Glass of only 0.7mm, said Hollis. Soda lime glass for a 70-inch screen can be as heavy as 17.6 kg but 2.5kg of Gorilla Glass will be enough - a great difference of 15kg, Hollis added.According to Hollis, the current international freight rate charges US$2.2/kg, and US$33 can be saved if an item is 15kg lighter. Thinner displays amount to more space for other cargos for each shipment, and freight efficiency is therefore enhanced, said Hollis.Better user experience that is also more interactiveMoreover, Gorilla Glass effectively reduces screen parallax and improves touch control accuracy to provide better visual quality. The parallax of 5.0mm soda lime glass is 2mm when viewed at an angle of 25 degrees. The parallax is 4mm at angle of 45 degrees and it increases to higher than 10mm at 75 degrees. But the parallax of 0.7mm Gorilla Glass is lower than 1mm and increases only slightly when viewed at an angle of 75 degrees.The touch sensitivity of Gorilla Glass is also 40% higher than thinner soda lime glass based on parallel-plate capacitor approximations, and such a feature is critical to high-definition touch panels. Direct lamination that eliminates air from the gap improves contrast ratios and rigidity to provide superior viewing quality.Established in 1851, Corning creates and makes keystone components that enable high-technology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications, and life sciences. The company now has 29,000 employees around the world, including more than 2,000 employees in Taiwan. Its 2011 revenue came to US$7.9 billion. Corning is the 328th of the 2012 Fortune 500 companies and the world leader in ceramics and specialty glass.According to Hollis, Corning succeeds through sustained investment in R&D, more than 160 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, and a distinctive, collaborative culture. Corning excels in combining its abundant professional knowledge with its service to local customers in order to enjoy success together with customers. It is Hollis' view that people live in a world made from glass will soon become a reality as more and more companies are embracing Corning products.James Hollis, Worldwide Sales & Applications Engineering - Gorilla, Corning Glass Technologies, Corning

Memory applications are omnipresent in today's digitalized information society, In particular, non-volatile memories (NVM) featuring durability, high intensity and high speed, lightweight, power efficiency, and non-volatile storage, are widely used in USB, notebooks, netbooks, tablets, cell phones, HD video and MP3 players, pen recorders, electronic pets, wearable gadgets, and digital/video cameras.According to a recent Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) report, the global mobile memory market is expected to amount to US$7.7 billion in 2012 and may grow to US$13 billion in 2016 despite the slowdown in America and Europe and the Greek debt crisis. This is because each and every electronic device needs independent NVM operation to make it work.Serious bottleneck of electric leakages associated with micro-memory developmentAccording to Ralf Kilguss, Senior Segment Marketing Manager, Macronix, many technologies help NVM production, including SONOS (charge trapping and XtraROM are the representative architectures), ROM & fuse, as well as RRAM and phase change that have a great potential, but the floating gate technology (including NOR flash and NAND flash) remains the mainstream.According to a DRAMeXchange forecast, the processing speed of NAND flash is lower than NOR flash but the rapid increase of various consumer electronics needs data storage - the primary function of NAND flash - and this would help the 2012 NAND flash revenue increase 12% from the previous year, and the NAND flash output value is expected to exceed that of DRAM this year.As semiconductor manufacturing processes keep evolving and components are increasingly smaller, the floating gate technology now faces a serious bottleneck in micro-memory development. According to Kilguss, because the floating gate technology has electric charges stored in polysilicon, the tunnel oxide at the bottom must be thick enough to avoid direct tunneling and Frenkel-Poole tunneling that easily incur electric leakages and affect memory quality and reliability.According to Kilguss, generally speaking, tunnel oxide should not be thinner than 8nm, and this makes floating-gate non-volatile memory manufacturers unable to freely reduce their product sizes horizontally or vertically.Bad block, write/read disturbance, and durability issues to be tackledOn the other hand, floating-gate non-volatile memory size reduction means decreased electric charges stored in polysilicon. According to Kinam Kim's presentation at VLSI-TSA 2005, floating gate memory size reduction from 120nm to 40nm will rapidly decrease the number of electrons stored from more than 3,000 to about 80 if Vth is set at 4V. Because a NAND flash memory has fewer electrons than a NOR flash memory of the same size, the impact on the NAND flash memory is more serious, and the expected lifespan of charge loss tolerance will decrease from more than 10 years to 5 years.A lower total number of electrons means a more severe impact resulting from losing a same amount of electronic charges. For small-size floating gate NVMs, particularly NAND flash memories, this is a dilemma between data storage and enhanced reliability.Moreover, NAND flash bad blocks are generated along with increasing program/erase (P/E) cycles, and the endurance affected by write/read disturbance incurred by electric current instability or sensitive components needs to be re-strengthened by wearing leveling, while there is certain danger to long-term data storage.Write/read disturbance is caused by the voltage difference between the pages selected and unselected (e.g., read the selected page at 0V and write at 20V, while read the unselected at 5V and write at 8V), and ongoing pressure on the unselected page units easily incurs data losses. According to Kilguss, the issue would further worsen as semiconductor manufacturing process advances are making gateway nodes increasingly smaller.Memory flexibility and reliability factored in by Macronix's new HybridFlashWhen the value of a byte or more bytes changes from 1 to 0 during NAND flash read and write, a read disturb error tends to happen. If many times of reading (tens of thousands sometimes, depending on technology) of a page happen before erasing, the error can be even worse. This means that the raw bit error rate (RBER) increases with the increase of NAND flash reading. When there are too many bit errors to be corrected by Error Checking and Correcting (ECC), NAND flash reliability and data storage ability will drop to an unacceptable level, and the issue cannot be completely resolved only by built-in ECC.In order to resolve the aforementioned issue during micro NAND flash development and provide a high quality solution to embedded storage devices, Macronix has launched its new generation product HybridFlash that factors in both flexibility and reliability. According to Kilguss, HybridFlash consists of XtraROM, flash memory and controller, which can respectively serve OS storage, boot loader/code update, and interface purposes.XtraROM is able to provide ASIC design based on customer DRM schemes, does not need bad block management and extra ECC, is free from write/read disturbance, requires fewer masker layers than other technologies, and enjoys its exclusive wafer foundry capacity. So many strengths of XtraROM help maintain considerable reliability after product size reduction and do not need the extra backup code image required by other NAND flash technologies.XtraROM's superiority over NAND flash in many areasHybridFlash provides a very stable medium to contents and OS, enabling storage as long as 20 years at 85 degrees centigrade and it also works normally from 40 degrees below zero to 85 degrees centigrade. Its security control mechanism effectively guards against hacking, viruses, and unauthorized alterations.According to Kilguss, Macronix has conducted repeated reading of three sets of XtraROM's single page at 25 degrees centigrade with Vcc set at 3.6V and a data rate at 1MByte per second to test whether the data in XtraROM is affected. After more than 109 tests lasting for 168 hours, 80 units of each of the three sets of XtraROM were randomly sampled (a total of 240 units sampled), and no error was found. According to Kilguss, testing of general SLC/MLC NAND flash under the same settings would show errors of disturbance within one hour.Compared to SLC NAND flash or MLC synchronous NAND flash, XtraROM performs better in Random Read, Sequential Write, Random Write, and Read Cycle. Therefore, XtraROM is now widely used in closed consumer systems (e.g., printers, set-top boxes, and digital TV), network devices (e.g., switches, routers, and base stations), industrial applications (e.g., programmable logic controllers, industrial PCs, rugged PDAs/tablets, and point-of-sale systems), and home appliances (e.g., coffee makers, ovens, and refrigerators).HybridFlash can replace CDs and DVDs traditionally used to install or distribute Windows, Office, Visio, Project, Visual Studio, Visual FoxPro, Adobe Acrobat, Games, etc. According to Kilguss, the data written into HybridFlash can be preserved longer, free from virus attacks, and can do without any wait for downloading. HybridFlash also helps netbooks, tablets, smart phones, and slim notebooks do without the space for CD players to make them even more compact.Ralf Kilguss, Senior Segment Marketing Manager, Macronix

Twenty years ago, technological innovations were driven by demand from large companies, governments and the military. Today, the world is led by consumerism, and meeting consumers' needs has become the reason for all innovations.According the organizer of IFA noted that the debt crises in Greece, Spain and Ireland cannot be seen as an economic crisis of the whole Europe, which remains one of the biggest consumer markets of the world. To understand the trends of this consumer market, one needs to understand Berlin, the mainstay of the European economy and finance.Industrial innovation directed by consumers, instead of enterprisesJens Heithecker, Executive Director of IFA, gave a speech on why the consumer is the decision-maker for the industry's future. He pointed out the first rule of the industrial innovation nowadays is "consumerization." Marc Andreessen, founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, shared his view about consumerization. Andreessen said that many exciting developments of IT technologies first appear in the consumer market before heading towards other areas. Companies also provide personalized devices.Heithecker said that in the 1990s, industrial innovations were meant to meet the demand of large companies, research centers and the military. With the rise of Internet, the situation has gradually changed, with innovations intended more for consumers. Now it is an age of individuals, and innovations are starting to be first inspired and guided by consumers' needs before finding their own ways into enterprises and governments.He cited two IT giants as illustrations: Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft thrived in the 1990s because the company provided innovative technologies to fulfill demands of enterprises. But Apple's high market value and wide influence in 2012 has come from the fact that its innovations have always been meant for consumers.The market trend has also turned from traditional PCs to mobile Internet devices. The Economist remarked in 2011 that the Wintel era, dominated by PCs running Microsoft Windows and Intel chips, was drawing to a close.According to various market research done by enterprises, investment companies or governments, from 1981 to 1993, there were 100 million PCs in the world. By 2008, the number had grown to one billion. It is expected that by 2020, there will be 10 billion Intrernet-connected mobile devices in the world.That leads us to the second rule of industrial innovation: "mobility." The Economist mentioned in 2011 that society is changing with more and more people trusting or even relying on online shopping and activities on social networks, and they are looking to access these Internet services and computing capabilities from more locations.A new high-tech environment of mobility has begun taking shape. Heithecker emphasized that it is not just those computing capabilities, services, mobile sites and apps that should be made available on the Internet. Content and personal data should also be accessed anytime, anywhere on any devices. Mobility means "ubiquitously connected."The IFA showcase of the 'ubiquitously connected world' for consumers and by consumersHeithecker further stressed that in this present era, everything is "for consumers" and "by consumers." The IFA exhibition opens every year from late August to early September in Messe Berlin, gathering manufactures and traders of consumer electronics from all over the world to showcase their latest products and technologies.IFA attracts thousands of buyers, local citizens and personnel from local and international media establishments. Not only mobile devices are shown at IFA; there are also all kinds of digital gadgets, including smart TVs and intelligent home appliances that form an ubiquitously connected life.During IFA 2011, 38,569 international buyers (56% Y/Y growth) visited the exhibition. The fair attracted 2,181 foreign press people (16% Y/Y growth) and 6,189 local ones (2% Y/Y growth). A total of 1,441 companies (1% Y/Y growth) exhibited at the show.IFA offers a large indoor space at 28 exhibition centers/halls. There are seven areas: *Home Entertainment: Hall 3.2, Hall 4.2, Hall 5.2, Hall 6.2b, Hall 7, Hall 8, Hall 10, Hall 11, Hall 18, Hall 20, Hall 21, Hall 22, Hall 23 and Hall 25*Audio Entertainment: Hall 1.2, and Hall 2.2b*Home Appliance: Hall 3.1, Hall 4.1, Hall 5.1, Hall 6.1, Hall 7.1, Hall 8.1, and Hall 10.1*IFA My Media: Hall 13, Hall 14, Hall 15, Hall 16, Hall 17, and Hall X19*Public Media: Hall 2.2a, and Sommergarten plaza*IFA Communication: Hall 6.2a, and Hall 9*Technology & Component: Hall 5.2, Hall 11.1, Hall 26, Hall 27, and Hall 28People may wonder: since IFA is at the heart of Europe, which is being hit by an economic crisis, what benefits may there be to join the show? Heithecker noted that only three European countries are heavily influenced by the debt crisis, namely Greece, Spain and Ireland, and their situations cannot be seen a crisis of the entire continent.According to statistics, in 2011 Europe was the largest market of consumer electronics with a share of 27%, and it will remain number one through the end of 2012. China accounted for 22%, the US for 21%, Asia-Pacific for 13%, Latin America for 11%, and Africa and Middle East for 6%.According to statistics and estimation provided by World Bank in 2011, German, France, the UK, Italy and Sweden saw their GDP decrease 3-5% in 2009, while the global GDP dropped 2.3% on average. Eastern Europe was in a more difficult situation where countries there saw GDP decrease 4-14.5%, except for Poland, whose GDP grew 2%. In 2010 and 2011, Italy had only a 0.5% growth, but most other Western European nations recovered with 1-5.5% growth, while Eastern European countries had 1-7% growth.Heithecker said all IFA booths this year have been booked up. As the most important trade event of consumer electronics in the world, IFA 2011 achieved orders up to US$4.8 billion, and attracted more international media attention than ever. IFA 2012 takes place from August 31 to September 5 in Berlin.Jens Heithecker, Executive Director, IFA

Mobile devices nowadays offer more and more functions with screen sizes bigger than ever. However, the increased interactivity is challenged by the limit of battery life. In addition, people need to link their mobile devices to large LCD TVs to display their proposal, diagrams, video conference and games.Besides HDMI and micro-HDMI, the mobile phone industry alliance has introduced MHL interface technology. Using the present micro-USB port, the MHL interface not only outputs 1080p video to large displays, it can also charge via the display as a source of power supply, enabling mobile devices to output images with better quality and enhanced power.Mobile devices require large displays for HD video outputDavid Kuo, Director of Product Marketing for Mobile Devices at Silicon Image, Inc, said that according to the estimation of InStar in November, 2011, by the year of 2015, there will be 2.5 billion mobile devices in the world, including mobile phones, tablets, cameras and other gadgets, and applications for mobile viewing will also be a major market trend.From digital cameras, Blu-ray players, notebooks, wireless gateways/routers, tablet PCs and smartphones, standards have evolved from VGA into 1080p (1920x1080 full HD). Processors have progressed from dual-core to quad-core, and mobile communication from 3G to 4G broadband. Gaming on mobile devices is no longer limited to simple games, but serious action games even 3D ones that are competitive to those on video game consoles.The limit of mobile devices nowadays is the screen size. The bigger screen it has, the better interactivity it provides. But the screen size and battery life vary inversely: the bigger the screen, the shorter life the battery.Mobile devices are also often linked to large-size displays: displaying proposal data from the smartphone by linking the device to a projector; doing video conferencing on smartphones with an HDTV; or playing games downloaded to the smartphones on a large display.Kuo also pointed out that in order to provide the best connectivity among mobile devices and other peripherals, the video transfer interface of the new generation mobile devices needs to support HD audio & video output, interactivity without video delay, compatibility with mobile devices of common sizes. These devices must be powered by batteries and easy to design.MHL: An aggressive competitor among HD output interfacesAt present, there are several interfaces supporting HD output: HDMI; MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) introduced by MHL Consortium; and WirelessHD. They all provide high quality, interacting and real-time HD viewing experiences. Since its introduction in 2004, HDMI interface has been built in more than three billion devices. However, the size of HDMI ports on TVs and notebooks are still too big. To solve this problem, mini-HDMI (Type C) ports and even smaller micro-HDMI (Type D) ports have been invented, the latter also compatible with present smartphones.As for the new MHL interface technology, it can also output 1080p60 full HD video supporting transmission of HD photos, HD videos, video conferencing and digital audio. Its back channel enables user to control the HDTV and the smartphone simultaneously with the remote control or touch panel on the HDTV, and MHL also allows users to simultaneously charge their connected devices.The MHL interface is connection agnostic, which means it works without being tied to a specific type of connector, as long as it provides these signals: HD video/audio, data and power. The MHL eco-system has formed: There are standards and related testing equipment; there are MHL Tx, Rx component and MHL IP for SoCs; and more than 100 MHL products have been developed. In 2011, more than 50 million MHL-enabled devices were shipped in the world, and it is predicted that over 100 million for devices with MHL built-in will be shipped in 2012.The following are displays with the MHL interface that can be found on the market: Samsung SmartTV 7000 and 8000 series LED TV (available in 46", 55" and 60"); LG LM9600, LM8500, LM7600 and LM6700; SHARP LC-xxLE745U, LC-xxC7450U, LC-xxLE845U, LC-xxLE847U, LC-xxLE8470U, and LCD-xxLX840A; Toshiba WL800A series LED HDTV; Samsung 7 Smart Station and HDTV display (available in 24" and 27").As for MHL mobile devices, there are: HTC smartphones including Sensation, Sensation XE, EVO 3D, EVO 4G LTE, Amaze, resound, Vivid, Raider, One X and One S; HTC tablets Flyer and Jetscream; Acer smartphone CloudMobile; Fujutsu ARROWS Z ISW13F; Sharp Aquos ISW16SH; Samsung Galaxy S2, Infuse, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S3; LG Optimus LTE II, Optimus LTE, Nitro HD, Spectrum, Optimus 3D Max, Optimus 4X, Optimus LTE Tag; Pantech Vega LTE; Lenovo S2; Huawei Ascend P1/P1 S, Ascend D1, D1 Quad; ZTE PF200, Era; and Meizu Mx, OPPO Find3.Other products and gadgets with the MHL interface: Onkyo AV Receiver; Sharp Aquos Media Station BD-AMS10U & BD-AMS20U, Roku Streaming Stick; Renesas Ultra-Compact STB Reference Board; Pioneer AppRadio 2 In-Dash Car Receiver, and MHL to HDMI, MHL to VGA connectors, MHL docks and MHL cables.Technical differences between HDMI and MHLHDMI uses 19-pin HDMI connector for connection. The output end transmits video/audio and power signals to the input end, while EDID/HDCP and CEC signals are transmitted from both ends. Therefore, when the smartphone is connected to the monitor via HDMI, the power signal needs to be sent from the output end (which is the smartphone), which consumes power.There is usually one micro USB port on smartphones, and if a micro HDMI port is added, users may be confused by their similarity. The micro HDMI port will also increase the costs of components, such as transmitter ICs, connectors, ESD diodes, and CM chokes. It also occupies more space on the PCB. Therefore, the micro HDMI port may be feasible for tablet PCs, but not for smaller mobile devices.As for the MHL interface, the output end transmits video/audio signals, but the EDID/HDCP/remote control and power signals are transmitted from the input end to the output end. The MHL connector has only five pins, and can be used the connector for any mobile device.MHL Consortium is promoting the MHL interface in the form of the most popular micro USB connector. With a MHL transmitter chip and a micro USB connector, transfer of HD video/audio, as well as USB data transfer and charging can all be performed. By adopting this single connector with multi functions, manufacturers can remove the material cost for the second set of video connectors, save PCB space and improve the look and design of the device.Advantage of 60Hz WirelessHD technologyKuo also mentioned about WirelessHD, a 60GHz, almost non-delay 1080p60 wireless video transfer technology. The present 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi technology allows users to stream video via the DLNA protocol, but when it comes to transferring 1080p60 video, the video need to be compressed first, and there can be delay for more than one second, which is quite obvious for users when playing games. Encode/decode signals are written on the original video; as a result, the video player will need to consume more CPU resource or require a high efficiency H.264 codec chip. Also, as Wi-Fi is a structure of bandwidth sharing, once it is accessed by other users, the bandwidth may not be sufficient for transmitting videos.The 60GHz WirelessHD is a solution similar to connecting cables, with one-way bandwidth up to 4GBps. The bandwidth is 100% for video transmission only. It allows 1920x1080p60 uncompressed HD video transmission, and delays under 3ms, which users can hardly feel. It is ideal for interactive HD video and gaming.Kuo concluded that the ability to connect HD video to a large display is the key to the development of ultimate and interactive mobile devices. HDMI, MHL and WirelessHD can all bring users high quality and interactive HD experience. For wired HDMI, MHL to WirelessHD, there are solutions readily available from Silicon Image.David Kuo, Director of Product Marketing for Mobile Devices, Silicon Image

As the trends for cloud computing and mobility intensify, online video streaming often experiences serious lags. Now consumers are asking for flash storage devices of larger capacity and faster performance. Leading flash memory vendors are well aware of the demand for faster performance from upstream servers, midstream access networks and downstream mobile terminal devices, and they keep offering comprehensive performance-boosting solutions. Competitiveness coming from memory technology, system expertise and production capacity is the key to sustainable leadership in this cut-throat market of flash memory.Device mobility boosts demand for flash memoryOne of the IDC forecasts quoted by Dan Inbar, senior vice president and general manager of OEM Business Unit at SanDisk, estimates that the digital world of data will grow to 2.72 zettabytes by 2012, when more mobile devices with extreme performance are scheduled to launch. Data centers are expected to become more responsive, as by 2016 each mobile device will have an average capacity of 38GB.Inbar said according to statistics published by Gartner in first-quarter 2012, global smartphone shipments reached 500 million units in 2011, with an average flash capacity at merely 7GB per device. Global handset shipments are expected to hit 1.35 billion units by 2016, and the average flash capacity will rise to 26GB. In 2011, nearly 70 million tablet PCs were sold with an average flash capacity at 24GB per device. Tablet shipments are estimated at nearly 380 million in 2016, and the average flash capacity will increase to about 46GB per machine.As for SSDs, only 17 million notebook PCs were shipped with SSDs in 2011 with an average SSD capacity at 126GB. By 2016, global shipments of SSD-equipped notebooks will reach 100 million units with an average 319GB flash capacity.For enterprise SSDs, only five million servers with SSDs were shipped in 2011, with an average 214GB SSD capacity. The shipments are expected to surpass 20 million units by 2016, and the average SSD capacity per server will rise to 1,248GB, increasing nearly six-fold from 2011.Enabling faster data transferInbar pointed out that SanDisk has enabled faster data transfer by launching a 64GB, UHSI-compatible Class 6 micro memory card, microSDXC, with 30MB/s read speed. A 64GB ultra mini USB drive that can be directly inserted into USB ports is also available now. According to market surveys conducted by SanDisk itself, UBS flash drives sold as tie-ins with mobile devices or via retail channels neared 500 million units in 2011, and the figure is expected to grow year by year to over 700 million in 2015.Inbar mentioned that a combination of maximum-performance enterprise servers and storage is the first node for cloud computing service. Access networks that provide data, in 3G, 3.5G, 4G WiMAX or LTE, are the middle node, while end devices are at the last node with maximum mobility. For content delivery at YouTube, Amazon, NetFlix and Hulu, online shopping/payment mechanism and client analytics of Walmart and VISA, or cloud service providers like Facebook, Google and iCloud, cloud data needs to be delivered in a faster manner. Flash memory technology will redefine performance.Solutions for faster delivery by devices/networks upstream, mid-stream and downstream in the cloudInbar said a second-quarter 2011 Bytemobile Mobile analytic report found 60% of total mobile data was video in 2011, but users complained that there was a 40% chance of experiencing lags while streaming videos. In a bid to address these challenges of video lags, SanDisk has come up with a set of solutions to problems from upstream to downstream.First is the solution for enterprise servers. SanDisk found that while only one third of CPU capacity is utilized at any time, disk I/O is often almost in full load with over 90% utilization. If flash I/O is properly applied, the load for server CUP and disk I/O can be simultaneously reduced to below 50%. This will double the density of virtual server to increase the efficiency of cloud services.The second solution concerns client computers. Installing a SanDisk iSSD, with small package size at 0.5mm pitch 156Ball BGA and capacity ranging from 8, 16, 24, 32 64 to 128GB, will help. It is also equipped with SATA 6Gbps high-speed interface and a max read up to 450MB/s and max write 350MB/s. With SanDisk's nCashe cache technology, core OS, log files and recent data can be stored in iSSD and accelerate operation of the entire system.The third solution is for access networks. Through a time shifting strategy during peak and off-peak time of mobile base station utilization, most of the day time is allocated for communications while the off-peak network bandwidth at night is used for massive data transmission. Mobile devices can also adopt smart caching technology to store streamed content into flash, and transfer the data to DRAM with rule-based caching. Lastly, when a mobile device is brought home for downloading, it can automatically detect wireless gateways/routers and use the PC for side loading. Preloading of possibly useful multimedia files/documents via Wi-Fi of higher bandwidth can also relieve the burden of mobile download.Flash memory companies are rising to the challengesInbar believes there are four key elements for flash memory companies to cope with these ever-expanding challenges: the first is memory technology, and the second is system expertise. SanDisk has a good command of controllers, firmware, algorithms and ECC that support various chipsets, OSs and leading industrial standards. For example, the 50MB/s eMMC v4.2 specified by JEDEC in 2009 was mostly applied in feature phones, smartphones, tablets, digital still cameras and video recorders.From 2010 to 2011, JEDEC raised the eMMC v4.3/v4.4 transfer speed to 100MB/s so the application extended to larger-size and dual-core smartphones, tablets and digital camcorders. With the eMMC v4.5 standard being drafted by JEDEC from 2012 to 2013, the transfer speed will be raised to 200MB/s and an IOPS interface for multitasking I/O will be included so that it can be applied to ultrabooks, multi-core tablets, smart TVs and cloud servers. SanDisk will offer a complete series of flash memory products for various devices ranging from PNDs, e-book readers, budget feature phones, potable multimedia players, portable game consoles, digital camcorders, superphones, tablet PCs, x86 tablets, and other ultrathin devices.SanDisk has conducted a cloud server test, finding that without optimization, there were a large number of inconsistency occurrences while doing 256KB writes. The system's latency mostly falls between 300ms and 1,600ms with some cases even reaching 5,500 ms. After being optimized with flash acceleration technology, the number of inconsistency occurrences were greatly reduced.The third key element is the integration of manufacturing capability and capacity. In addition to its existing 200mm wafer plant, a 300mm fab at Japan's Mie Prefecture in a joint venture between SanDisk and Toshiba started mass production in July 2011. With sufficient supply of flash memory wafers, SanDisk also set up a packaging/testing plant in China in 2007 to cater to demand in the local mobile device market.The fourth key element mentioned by Inbar was an eye on the future of storage. By 2016 each tablet will require an average flash memory capacity of 46GB, and the key solutions include high speed memory card, eMMC and SSD with COB or traditional flash IC designs.Average capacity of smartphones will reach 26GB by adopting high speed memory card, eMMC and iSSD as key solutions. Average capacity of notebooks, ultrabooks and PCs will reach 319GB with eMMC and SSD being key solutions. Capacity of most memory cards and USBs will increase to an average 25GB, offering up to 128GB capacity limit and 95MB/s speed in COB or flash IC designs. Finally, average flash capacity of data centers/servers will rise to 1,248GB, providing high-end, high-speed SSD solutions such as SATA, SAS and PCIe.Dan Inbar, Senior Vice President and General Manager of OEM Business Unit at SanDisk